Short-Term Effects of Yoga

Exercise alone creates beneficial physiological and psychological changes; however, study after study in India has shown that regular practice of Yoga accounts for more beneficial changes than does exercise.

In regards to medical assistance, you don’t taken an antidepressant medication just once and expect to feel better.  You take it regularly.  So with Yoga, to restore the body and mind to a steady state of well-being, you must also practice regularly.  By adding the element of what psychologists call “self-control” – the ability to be actively involved in the healing process, the daily Yoga practice becomes therapeutic.  Self-control, not to be confused with willpower or restraint, means, in this context, that you can determine your own course of action.  Self-control, as in self-determination, has been shown in numerous studies to have a positive outcome in recovery from illnesses, including depression.

“Yoga offers me the opportunity to practice something that I can do for myself and moves me from the paralyzing effects of depression.”